In-Gall

In-Gall In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall
In-Gall Location of in Gall
Coordinates: 16°47′10″N 06°56′01″E / 16.78611°N 6.93361°E / 16.78611; 6.93361
Country	Niger
Region	Agadez Region
Department	In-Gall Department
Commune	In Gall
Area
• Total	61,171 km2 (23,618 sq mi)
Elevation	456 m (1,499 ft)
Population  (2012-12-10)
• Total	51,903

In-Gall (var. In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall) is a department, commune and town in the Agadez Region of northeast Niger, with a year-round population of less than 500. Known for its oasis and salt flats, In-Gall is the gathering point for the Cure Salee festival of Tuareg and Wodaabe pastoralists to celebrate the end of the rainy season each September. During the festival, In-Gall's population grows to several thousand nomads, officials, and tourists. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 47,170 people.^[1]

In-Gall had been a stop on the main roads between the capital of Niger, Niamey (600 km to the southwest), and the mining town of Arlit (200 km to the northeast, 150 km from the Algerian border) or the provincial capital Agadez (100 km to the east). In the 1970s, the main road was repaved to transport uranium from the French-owned mines in Arlit, but the new road bypassed In-Gall, ending its use as a waystation. Since then, its population has dropped from almost 5,000 to less than 500.

During the Tuareg insurgency of the 1990s, In-Gall was a prime fortification of the Niger armed forces, and when peace was concluded in 2000 the old fort was reportedly abandoned. ^[2]